Ruth and Naomi

FAREWELL? Oh, no! It may not be;

My firm resolve is heard on high!

I will not breathe farewell to thee,

Save only in my dying sigh.

I know not that I now could bear

Forever from thy side to part,

And live without a friend to share

The treasured sadness of my heart.

I will not boast the martyr’s might

To leave my home without a sigh,—

The dwelling of my past delight,

The shelter where I hoped to die.

In such a duty, such an hour,

The weak are strong, the timid brave,

For love puts on an angel’s power,

And faith grows mightier than the grave.

For rays of heaven serenely bright

Have gilt the caverns of the tomb;

And I can ponder with delight

On all its gathering thoughts of gloom.

Then, mother, let us haste away

To that blest land to Israel given,

Where faith unsaddened by decay

Dwells nearest to its native heaven.

For where thou goest, I will go;

With thine my earthly lot is cast.

In pain and pleasure, joy and woe,

Will I attend thee to the last.

That hour shall find me by thy side,

And where thy grave is, mine shall be;

Death can but for a time divide

My firm and faithful heart from thee.